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Bishop looking to buy city park land |
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Saturday, 08 December 2007 |
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By Darcy Ellis
Editor 12-6-2007
The City of Bishop is hoping to find freedom in long-term commitment.
After leasing the 40-plus acres known as Bishop City Park for more than four decades, the city is making efforts to finally own the property outright.
It is hoped, said City Administrator Rick Pucci, that ownership of the park will better allow the city to control its own destiny as far as future park improvements and projects are concerned.
The city has leased the 44 acres at the northern end of town from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power since about 1966. Any additions or improvements to those leased portions of the park must be approved by LADWP bureaucrats in Los Angeles, adding more work for L.A. staffers and an extra layer of red tape for the City of Bishop to clear when trying to complete projects in a timely fashion.
The construction of the Bishop Skate Park is only one recent example in which the city ran into roadblocks because of LADWP having to approve projects at the Bishop City Park. According to Pucci, the project was tied was up for almost two additional years in the Los Angeles bureaucratic morass before it could move forward and the skate park opened in spring of 2001.
Complicating matters further is the fact that, “I’m not dealing with the L.A. Parks and Rec Department. I’m dealing with Water and Power anytime we want to do a public improvement,” Pucci explained, andLADWP’s primary focus, as it should be, is water and power related issues.
By purchasing the park from LADWP, “I don’t have to go to them if we want to put in a tennis court.”
There’s also the matter of the leases themselves, which can be prohibitive for the city when it comes to seeking and obtaining grant funding.
“Most grants for Parks and Recreation projects” require long-term leases, he explained. For instance, if a grantor requires a 50-year lease, and the city only has 15 years left on its lease with LADWP, both entities have to scramble to extend the contract to make Bishop eligible for funding.
“A couple of years ago we had to work really closely with DWP because we were close to losing grant money,” Pucci noted. “We scraped by by the skin of our teeth.”
The city’s current lease, renewed on June 1, 2004 for an additional 25 years, is set to expire on June 30, 2029, said LADWP Senior Real Estate Officer Don McGhie.
The idea of the city purchasing the park from LADWP is not a new one.
About 19 years ago, the notion was discussed with LADWP’s then-northern district engineer. The idea was met with general favor by both Bishop and L.A. department heads, but for various reasons never went anywhere, Pucci said.
Pucci seized the opportunity of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s election and subsequent appointment of new officials to the L.A. Board of Water and Power Commissioners to resurrect the idea.
During a public meeting about two years ago in Bishop, he presented the city’s idea to L.A.’s new commissioners, apparently getting the attention of Mary Nichols, chair of the board at the time. “I think she took me pretty seriously,” Pucci said, explaining that he was instructed to write a letter to L.A. officials that would get the ball rolling once more.
Two years later, the city is now waiting on a current appraisal of the value of the park’s 44 acres from LADWP, which the utility and City of Bishop will use as a starting point for negotiations.
The appraisal was supposed to be done in August, but was delayed because the contract with the firm charged with completing the appraisal expired and a new one was not secured until the end of September.
Gene Coufal, Bishop-based manager of LADWP’s Aqueduct Section, informed Pucci last month that the appraisal should be complete by mid- to late December.
Negotiations are likely to begin after the first of the year.
“There couldn’t be an arm’s-length transaction” on the City of Bishop’s part for purchase of the park property, Pucci said.
Most likely, LADWP and the city will agree on a fair market price, and set up a payment plan that the city can pay over time, with interest.
The city currently pays LADWP $30,000 a year for the 44-acre lease, plus the tax owed on the land, Pucci said.
The City of Bishop does own some of the property that comprises Bishop City Park, such as the area where the pool is located and Ball Diamond No. 1, McGhie said.
The LADWP began leasing small portions of the property in 1950, adding more leasable acreage in piece-meal fashion until about 1966, creating the park currently being leased by the City of Bishop today, McGhie explained.
The purchase of the property, in the long run, should be a win-win for both the City of Bishop and LADWP, which, Pucci noted, probably isn’t all that keen either on having to weigh in on park projects when it has its hands full of water-related issues.
Also, owning the deed to the property will come in handy should the city decide to improve on the undeveloped portion of the park adjacent to the Bishop Senior Center.
“It’s a regional city park, and it should be run by the city,” Pucci said. “I shouldn’t have to ask the City of L.A. to add a basketball court.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 29 January 2008 )
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